Law and Order: C-Sec
by HorrorSquid
Summary: This series follows the C-Sec homicide detectives Jane Shepard and Garrus Vakarian. These are their stories!


Citadel

Silversun Strip

Imperial Apartments

24th May 2186

0400

I groan and roll over at the insistent ringing of my tool, burying my head in the pillow, hoping to ignore it until it stops. Not hearing any break in the loud chiming and, not wanting to cause my bed partner to wake, I shift to answer it.

"Hello," I growl sleepily, "This is Detective Shepard."

"Shepard!" the executor barks into my ear. "You got a case, get Vakarian and your ass to Zakera Wards ASAP. Arcam Towers in the 700 Blocks. Alleyway behind building 12."

I snap to attention at that, sitting up in bed and reaching over to shake my partner awake. "Right away, sir. We'll be right there."

"Go back to sleep…" Garrus mumbles in his pillow and swats my hand away, rolling over to his other side.

Closing the call, I look to him and playfully grab his fringe to give a soft tug. "Wake up, we have a case."

He groans as he pushes himself up and away from the mattress, blinking sleepily. "You're awfully active for someone who only slept two hours the last night…" He sits on the edge of the bed, popping his neck.

I snort and chuckle a bit. "Hey, once you come back to reality and hear what I'm saying, you'll be up too." I nudge his shoulder before hoping off the bed. "A _case_ , Garrus. You get that? _C-A-S-E_."

"I got you the first time…" He yawns, his face in his hands, rubbing the sleep away. "What do we have?" His back cracks as he stands up, gathering his clothes.

"Pallin says there's a case over in Zakera," I offer as I grab my clothes, pulling pants and underwear on before searching for my bra. "'Get yours and Vakarian's asses over there,' he says, so must be good."

"Why do they always murder people at such unholy times?" His voice is muffled under his shirt as he pulls it over his head.

"Gee, might have something to do with that whole 'there's less people around in the middle of the night'?" I shrug with a chuckle, helping tug his shirt down when it sticks on his fringe. "But what would I know, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah… whatever." He grabs his badge and his gun from the nightstand, taking a credit chit as well. "Is there at least time to grab a coffee?"

I shrug as I follow him out the door. "Think they'd blame us more for being late or if we let the perp go because you're still half asleep?" I smirk.

The apartment door opens, Garrus stepping out in the hallway. "Good… I'm dead without it…"

Citadel

Silversun Strip

Galaxy Bucks

24th May 2186

0412

"Get me the usual, please? I need to find the toilet." He's walking through the empty coffee shop to the restrooms on the far side as a young human woman comes to the counter.

"Welcome to Galaxy- oh. Detective Shepard. The usual?" she smiles.

I smile and nod. "Yep, double for me and a double of Detective Vakarian's black poison."

"Right away, ma'am." With a whistle on her lips she turns to the coffee machine.

Chuckling softly, I shake my head at her early morning enthusiasm. "I have no clue how you can be so cheery this early in the morning. I want whatever gives you that."

"You just woke up, I wasn't even in bed yet…" She smiles, looking over her shoulder. "My shift ends in two hours."

I nod. "Makes sense, we got the whole day ahead of us, most likely."

She nods and returns to the counter with two steaming cups of coffee and a small paper bag with two bagels in it, setting it down in front of you. "One double chocolate coffee with double sugar and double cream and a double coffee, black as the empty void"

Nodding in thanks, I grab the cups. "Thanks," I say as I shift the hold to take out a chit. "What do I owe you?"

"Oh, nothing. On the house!"

"You sure?" I lift a brow and motion the bag of something of the counter. "And that?"

"You two are regulars and I think a nice start in the morning might help you through the day"

Chuckling, I nod in thanks and drop a chit well over the amount to cover everything plus tip in her tips jar. Juggling the drinks and bag of food, I head to the seats we usually occupy when not in a hurry, knowing Garrus will find me waiting.

"What's that?" his still sleepy voice comes from right behind me as he looks over my shoulder, reaching for the bag.

I grunt and hold it from his hold with a smirk. "Manners…" Chuckling at his look, I hand over his coffee. "Your sludge, sir. And these," I motion the bag, "Are some bagels."

He takes the coffee, sipping with a purr. "Bagel _S_? Like plural? Give me one!" His hand grabbing the bag.

I snort as I release it, not wanting to tear it and make a mess all over the floor like two children. "Grabby hands, Garrus? Really?" I chuckle as I get up from the seat to motion us to head out. "I never took you for a child until you get a hold of some adult drink." Motioning his drink, I smirk as I take a sip of my own.

"Gwabby handf?" Mumbling around his food as he shoves the whole bagel in his mouth. "I'm-" He takes another sip of his coffee to wash it down. "Fucking hungry!"

The door of your car opens with a hiss and I take the passenger seat, too tired to hear his complaints about my driving. Sitting down, I access the cruiser's commands and input the location of our case for him to follow.

"Alright," I assure as I relax in my seat. "Now give me at least some of those." I try to reach for the bag of breakfast in his hand.

He hands over the bagels, starting the car. "So, you got any more information or was Pallin as vague as always?"

Clearing my throat with a drink of coffee, I try to mimic our boss my partner always seems to have trouble getting along with. "Arcam Towers, 700 Block of Zakera. In the alley behind building 12."

"Vague as always... " He huffs and downs the rest of the coffee, making me cringe with a jut of my tongue. With the car in the middle of the usual high Citadel traffic, he sighs as he turns on the emergency lights, groaning "I hate it…"

"What? The traffic," I motion out the window, "which you've been around for - how many years have you lived here -"

"Nine years, but-"

"- traffic you've been around nine years, or Pallin?" I smirk and set my empty cup aside. "Because that's something you just bring on yourself every time you talk back or interrupt his debriefs."

"-but I meant the emergency lights… And the siren." He groans. "Especially after only 2 hours of sleep."

Chuckling with a shrug, I pat his knee. "Just look at it this way, no more patrol suspension."

His hand covers yours, squeezing it. "As long as you're my partner, I'd patrol the Keeper tunnels with joy."

"Let's not and say we did," I deadpan.

Citadel

Zakera Ward

Arcam Towers

24th May 2186

0437

It's not hard to spot the crime scene, even in a shithole like this a murder always attracts bystanders, just like flies surround a pile of Varren shit. Still, there is too few C-Sec officers holding the crowd at bay and even the automatic barricades are little deterrent to the curious onlookers.

"Make way before we arrest all of you!" Garrus shouts with his stronger voice above the crowd as we push through, his impatience clear. As we approach the front of the crowd, we see Officer Wilks trying to maintain order.

"Wilks-" Garrus barks towards the young salarian "What the fuck is going on here? I don't know if you noticed it but this is a fucking crime scene! Get rid of all those people."

He rushes towards us, eyes wide in panic. "Sorry, sir, ma'am. Apologizes." He opens the barricade to let us in. "You know how we're low on staff. It's been hard trying to keep everyone out. Even managed to have a few sneak in." He motions to two reporters cuffed and sitting on the stoop of a nearby door frame where he can keep an eye on them.

I hold a hand up to calm him. "Easy, Wilks. Just calm down and tell us what you know."

"Young human girl. Dr. Solus is examining her." He motions further down the alley. "Should ask him for more information."

Garrus sighs and scratches his neck. "Do you want the Doc or should I go?"

Nodding to him, I motion the alley. "You take Mordin, I'll take care of the crowd and seeing what I find out by questioning the neighbors." Once I see him heading into the shadows of the alley, I turn to Wilks. "Tell me what you found when you arrived. Were you on patrol? Did someone call it in?"

Wilks shuffles his feet, hands behind his back. "Was on patrol, ma'am. Dispatch contacted me, said there was a call reporting loud noises and screams. Was right around the corner, found the girl like that. No one else in sight. Reported the body and waited for Dr. Solus"

"What time did you receive the call?"

"I received a call from dispatch at 3:47, arrived at the scene ten minutes later. Dr. Solus showed up fifteen minutes before you."

"Did dispatch say who called it in? Did anyone but you and Dr. Solus go near the scene?" I open my tool and start taking notes.

"A turian, name's Tactus. Living on the thirteenth floor. Couldn't speak to him, not enough men as you see. And no one besides C-Sec was at the scene."

I nod and motion the reporters. "And them? Did they manage to contaminate the scene or broadcast out to the public?"

"No, ma'am. Caught them before they got near. Confiscated their Omni-Tools and erased the video files."

"Alright. Dismissed, Wilks," I say as I head towards the apartment building, heading up to the thirteenth floor.

The doors are dingy, the lights barely bright enough to see to walk while remaining dark enough to hide the obvious grime and stains on the walls. I count the doors until I reach one with a plaque reading 'Tactus'.

Knocking, I call out. "Mister Tactus, C-Sec Detective Jane Shepard. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

I can hear someone slowly walking to the door, a low growl before the door opens. "Show me your badge!"

Holding back my sigh and accompanying eye roll, I retrieve my badge from my jacket pocket and hold it to the crack in the door, waiting for his inspection.

The door opens and the old turian nods, his eyes dark. "What do you want?"

"Well, sir," I explain as I replace my badge, opening my tool to take notes from his statement. "I hear that you were the one that made the call into Dispatch?" He nods. "Can you tell me what you may have seen or heard tonight?"

Nodding with a sigh, he starts talking. "I was standing at the window to smoke when I heard the screams and the laughter of some men… Looked down to see something, didn't see much. Just heard that at least two of them were turian."

I lift a brow. "So flanged voices? Or did you recognize the dialect?"

"I could hear what one of them was saying."

"And what did he say?" I supply, trying not to sound like I'm holding his hand.

"He said something like 'the best fuck in days... Little cunt deserves it' it was difficult to understand everything because..." He sighs and let his head hang.

"Because…?"

"Because of her crying and begging..."

I nod in understanding. "Did you happen to see anyone? Hear anything besides the one individual?"

He shakes his head, looking up to you. "Was too dark to see anyone, the lights in the alley are all broken. And I couldn't understand much from the others... Except, one of them sounded like a drell. Maybe."

"Alright, sir. That'll be all for now." I close my tool and grab a card from my pocket. "My number is on here, my Omni-tool on the back. If you happen to remember anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Of course." He takes the card and puts it on a table besides him. "I will call" The door closes slowly before he stops to look out again. "I hope you catch those animals."

"We will, sir," I assure with a stern nod. "Thank you for your assistance." As the door closes for the last time, I pull up my tool, contacting Dispatch. "This is Detective Shepard, badge number 4602-T11. Can you get me the name of the landlord for the Arcam Towers, building 12? Or at least the residing manager?"

"One second, Detective." It takes a moment before the officer continues. "No landlord for that building, at least no official, just a manager. A volus by the name of Din Korlack, registered in apartment 4."

"That'll be all, thank you." I close the call and head for the stairs, not wanting to take the creaky elevator again this time. Climbing down the stairs to the directory floor, I search for apartment four, finding it close.

As I head there, I pass a room marked 'Security', taking note to request access before we head back to the precinct. With luck, we can have a break, but it's not likely with how the rest of this place looks.

Coming upon room 4, 'Korlak' emblazoned on the plaque, I stop and knock hard. "C-Sec Detective. I'd like a word, Mr. Korlak."

I can hear shuffling behind the door, the taps of his small feet before the door opens. "* _pssh_ * How can I help you, earth-clan?"

"I'm here about the unfortunate incident that's happened outside your building, sir. Have a moment to answer a few questions?"

"* _pssh_ * What happened?"

"The alley behind your building is the scene of a homicide," I say without supplying too much. "I can assume this is the first time hearing of this?" I lift a slight brow, not too often you find a Volus that lacks the complete wherewithal of his surrounding, especially when he's managing the property.

"* _pssh_ * I heard someone screaming and the sirens later. * _pssh_ * Not very uncommon here."

I nod and take a card out for him, not going to get anything specific from him. "Here's my card in case you remember anything specific, but I also noticed you have a security office? Does this building have surveillance cameras? Anything covering the back alley or its entrance and exit?"

"* _pssh_ * We have cameras. * _pssh_ * But they were destroyed a few months ago. * _pssh_ * I called C-Sec but no one came." I lift brow at his insinuation that C-Sec wouldn't have looked as just a spite.

"I'll be sure to get someone to look at that," I deadpan. "We've been short on officers. Still, I'd like take a look at any possible tenant listings you have."

"I will give you access to the security room * _pssh_ * here, take this card." He holds out an orange key card, waving it at my belly.

I nod and take the card, pocketing it. "Thank you, for your cooperation." I watch him as he waddles back into his apartment, closing the door and leaving me to head into the Security office.

Using the keycard and stepping in, the room is cramped and dark, barely big enough for myself and the monitors, let alone if I came in here with my partner. True to the Volus' word, the security feeds are all dead, nothing but static when I turn on the screens. Even a check of the OSD for the feed yields nothing and I sigh as I leave it for the terminal of tenant listings.

Scrolling through the names, I load the list onto my tool to check up on at the precinct. With hopes, if our young victim or her family could live here. Hell, even a suspect or two would work, but that'd be too easy given the location.

The alley is dark and stinks of piss, blood, and something much more telling, a young girl laying on her belly, her skirt is shoved up and her underwear lays ripped of besides her. The salarian doctor kneeling besides he, finger on his chin. Garrus sighs and shakes his head as he takes the offered three fingered gloves. "Hey Mordin… What do we got here?"

"Young victim," heavy sigh. "Unfortunate. Suspect looking for multiple assailants. Definite signs of sexual assault as well as physical force." He points to dark bruising on her neck and arms without touching the body. "Suspect held down. Cause of death likely strangulation due to ligature."

"A low growl erupts in his chest followed by heavy sigh. "How old is she?" The turian shifts and moves to the other side of the body, his fingers ghosting over her.

"Hard to determine. Suspect ID on person to be counterfeit." The salarian hands over a flimsy piece of plastic. "Just hypothesis, would be able to determine, I assume."

With a flick of his mandible he's looking over the ID. "Miranda Lawson... Maybe a relative?" He says mostly to himself. "You said sexual assault. Was she alive during the rape?"

He hums as he collects something from beneath the girl's nails into an evidence bag. "Would suspect yes. Defensive signs evident. Vaginal bleeding typical to pre-mortem wound."

"Was she strangled with bare hands or did they use something? A belt or a cord."

"Took sample from wound. Fibrous material not present here at scene. Will send to lab when return to precinct." He nods with a quick glance in assurance.

"Anything that might help us? Because what I have is not very much..."

"Yes," he nods with a smile. "Was able to collect samples for sexual assault kit. Will take results to lab. Will know more once able to properly examine within Lab."

A low rumble. "Sure, contact me when you know more." He opens his tool, standing up and looking around. "Dispatch? This is Detective Garrus Vakarian, badge number 3879-T11. I need a pick up for the body and send CSI over ASAP."

"Understood, Detective. A transport is on its way to your position."


End file.
